


Like In The Movies

by Bette_H7



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Romance, F/F, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:08:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24207973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bette_H7/pseuds/Bette_H7
Summary: Slow burn AU set in Hollywood. Nicole Haught is a film director, trying to kick start a career in the movies. When she lands a director-for-hire gig, Waverly Earp is her leading lady. This fic is inspired by a love of movies, especially B-grade trash.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 51
Kudos: 223





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heads up, both characters are in relationships for the beginning of this story. Wanted to let people know in case that ain't your thing.

_THE END._

Nicole closed the file, nodding to herself. The script was generic, but she’d prepared herself for that after checking out the production company online. When she’d discussed it with the producer over the phone this afternoon, he outlined the plot of a by-the-numbers revenge thriller before emailing it to her.

Being a director for hire had never been part of the plan. In school, she dreamed about becoming the next Sophia Coppola or Todd Haynes. By now, reality had set in. A couple of her shorts had screened at festivals, but nobody was lining up to fund a young female director with no feature credits under her belt.

The producer, Dylan Benton, was only meeting with directors at her level because the original guy dropped out. They’d already started pre-production when he got a better offer, so they needed someone to step in and take over. A friend from film school managed to get her name on the list. A lucky break, but only if she could edge out the competition.

She spent the rest of the night going over the script, figuring out her pitch. It was hard to avoid imagining a completely different movie. If she got this job, she’d just have to find ways to work her own voice into it.

They’d agreed to a coffee meeting in Santa Monica, and the producer was easy to spot. He sat at one of the restaurant’s outdoor tables, wearing a black polo shirt, leg crossed over his knee.

“Good morning, Mr. Benton.”

“Hey there. Just call me Benton, everyone does,” he replied in a bored tone.

They shook hands, and she settled into the chair across from him, hating the way he looked her up and down. She’d dressed in dark jeans and a white button-up and probably didn’t look “fuckable” enough for his tastes. A typical L.A. blowhard; she’d met enough of them.

“Andrew sent me one of your shorts, the one in the factory. Interesting.”

“Thanks,” she said, unsure if he was complimenting her or not.

He beckoned the server, ordering coffee for them both.

“You said in your email that Ben Rushall had been cast in the lead? He’s perfect for it.”

He smiled wryly. “He was perfect for it, but he fucked us. Found out late last night. He got offered a tiny role in a Marvel movie. Of course, he’s taking it.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the business. Now we’ve gotta replace the director _and_ the leading man. A clusterfuck. The financiers are still in, but they’re going to reduce their investment no matter who we replace him with.”

She shifted in her chair. The coffee arrived, buying her some time to come up with something to say.

When the server left, she cleared her throat. The best approach with a dude like this was to head straight for the wallet.

“There are a lot of ways you could make up for any cuts to the budget. Rewrite some of those night scenes, for a start.”

“Mmm,” he said, then picked up his phone and started scrolling.

She wondered if he’d already hired someone else, but then why bother to meet with her? There was no need to do it out of politeness, given she was a nobody.

He didn’t care about this movie. Ben Rushall wasn’t even that big a name. The production company might be churning out half a dozen like this low budget cookie-cutter picture for all she knew.

What the hell. There was nothing to lose, and she really wanted to work - anything was better than nothing. She’d promised Shae that if she didn’t get a paying gig within the year, she’d leave Hollywood.

“Ben backing out leaves it open for a full rewrite. I’d drop that character altogether.”

He stopped scrolling and looked up. “Drop the main character? That’s…certainly a choice.”

“The film would be much more interesting if you told it from the girlfriend’s perspective.”

“Huh.”

His eyes narrowed, but he gestured for her to go on.

“Why have the protagonist seeking revenge on his girlfriend’s behalf, when you could have her go after her sister’s murderers herself? If she’s not this big action hero like Ben was going to be, the stakes are higher. She’s in more danger, so the payoff is bigger when she succeeds.”

It was the movie she’d fantasized about last night, imagining a film that she’d be more invested in. He put his phone on the table, face down. “We _do_ like the girl we got. She hasn’t done much, but she’s very promising.”

“What’s her name?”

“Waverly Earp.”

She’d never heard of her. It was hard to tell if he was buying this idea, but if by some miracle he did, she hoped the actor was up to it. It would be radically different from the role she’d been cast in.

“You could keep a lot of the key scenes. But her arc would be figuring out how to take the bad guys on. A transformation story.”

He was nodding slowly. She couldn’t tell him the script was sexist bullshit, she had to be smarter than that. Leaning forward, Nicole tented her fingers.

“Making these changes could bring in a whole different audience. She’s sexy, and there’s a lot of action for the guys, but women would want to watch this too. It makes it stand out, gives it an exciting hook.”

“It sounds like we could springboard off the Me Too stuff,” he said vaguely.

Gross.

“Exactly. Female empowerment.”

“Who’d do the rewrite? I don’t think Max has the right sensibility for that.”

Max was the original screenwriter, and judging by his work, Nicole had to agree.

“I could turn it around quickly. No screenwriter credit. It’d just be a polish.”

She had this Hollywood lying-through-your-teeth thing down. The rewrite would be a ton of work, but if he knew he didn’t have to pay her for it or fight with Max over the credit, he’d be more likely to get on board.

“Could you do it in a few weeks? With the same locations, pretty much the same set pieces and all?”

“Absolutely.”

“Deal, pending contract. I’ll have one drawn up. Congratulations.”

Elated, she walked back to the car. She couldn’t wait to call Shae with the news that she’d just scored a job.

She got in and rested her hands on the steering wheel, mind racing with all the work she’d have to do on the script. She’d need to quit her day job in the call center, but she’d have to finish out a couple of weeks of shifts. She needed the money, anyway. Alongside that, she’d have to launch into finishing up pre-production work. They were shooting in six weeks.

What had she just done?

***

On the Wednesday after that meeting, Nicole drove back to the same Santa Monica café to introduce herself to Waverly Earp. She wished she’d been able to see the actress’s face when she found out that her lame girlfriend part was now the lead role.

Benton set this meeting up, saying that Waverly had been calling him, wanting to know more about the changes. 

She arrived at the café early and pulled her laptop from her bag to squeeze in a few minutes of writing. She’d been burning the candle at both ends, beating the script into shape, meeting with production heads, and working with Benton to figure out workarounds for the new budget. She’d given notice and done another couple of shifts at the call center before guiltily calling in sick so she could focus on the movie.

It wasn’t fair to be annoyed at having to take time out for this meeting, but she was anyway. She’d had to force herself to prioritize it. If she pissed the lead actress off now, she’d pay for it later. Actresses were an odd breed; they could be both egocentric and fragile as hell.

Opening her laptop, she set about tinkering with a scene.

“Hello? Nicole Haught?”

When she raised her eyes, Waverly Earp stood there in high-waisted jeans and a light blue shirt that showed off tan skin.

She knew a little bit about what to expect from Googling her, but she’d never seen her in action. There were a few small roles in indies and a bit part in a Keanu Reeves movie from a couple of years ago.

“Oh, hey. Yes,” Nicole said. When she stood, it was with the awareness of her height that came from standing near someone short.

“Hi. Waverly. Nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

Waverly pumped her hand, smiling up at her. Most actresses were pretty, but Nicole was struck by just how lovely she was. It was hard to not see her face with a filmmaker’s eye, knowing how good those cheekbones would look on camera.

They sat down and ordered lunch from the heavily tattooed server.

“I’m so excited to be working with you,” Waverly said.

“Thanks. Me too.”

God, she wished they could cut out the polite schmoozing stuff. She understood that it was just what you did, but it’s not like Waverly knew anything about her or could have seen her work.

“So, Benton said you had some questions about the changes?”

“Yes! It sounds like it’ll be amazing. I’d love to hear all about them, but there was one thing I wanted to check out first.”

She lifted her handbag onto her lap and started rummaging inside. Pulling out her copy of the script, which had colorful post-it notes sticking out of it, she paged through.

Their frosted glasses of mineral water arrived, but Waverly didn’t look up from her script, leaving Nicole free to watch her. She was beautiful, and she was not at all the type she’d have cast in this role. She would have pushed for someone who could pull off toughness, but this girl was so sweet.

“I was wondering if this scene will still be shot,” she said, sliding the script across the table.

It was early on in the first act, and it wasn’t surprising that this was the one Waverly was focused on. It was the only meaty scene in the original script for her character. In it, she broke down about her sister’s death.

Nicole didn’t need to look too closely at the dialogue when she’d spent so much time reworking almost every scene. There were notes scribbled in the margins in tiny handwriting.

“Yes, it is, and most of your dialogue will be the same. The difference is that you won’t be talking to your boyfriend. It’ll be your mother.”

Waverly’s mouth was slightly open while she listened, eyebrows going up. “Wow, really?”

“Yep. They’re working on casting that role as we speak.”

“Cooooool. That will be so interesting. Like, instead of her just getting comforted, she’ll be thinking about her mom feels. I could play it a bit more restrained.”

“Exactly,” Nicole said, jogging her leg. It was a good idea, but didn’t exactly have time to start shaping the performance right this minute. She had to get back to work on the script; find a way to align it with this actress.

Their lunch arrived; a burrito bowl for her and a chopped salad for Waverly. She dug in, hoping to speed up the meeting.

“I’m still working on the rewrite. I’d love to offer you the new pages, but it’s a work in progress. I can see how much you like to prepare, but…”

“Oh no, I completely understand. I was hoping to just know a general idea. It’s kind of a whole different character, and I want to rebuild her, you know? Then learning the lines will be easy for me. I work well under pressure. I promise I’ll be fine.”

Nicole looked up from her bowl. Waverly sat straight-backed in her chair with her hands clasped in front of her, smiling tightly.

Shit. She was so stressed that she’d lost sight of the fact that it was more than fair for Waverly to be nervous. She’d lost sight of the insane amount of work Waverly was going to have to do.

Putting down her knife and fork, she locked eyes with her. “Of course, you will. I apologize if I’m coming across as distracted.”

Waverly flushed and shook her head. “Oh no, not at all, that’s okay.”

“I’d be more than happy to take you through it. Your character’s going to blend with the Jimmy Hudson character. I want you to be the hero, but the last thing I wanted to do was to just have you play the male role without any changes.”

She nodded eagerly. “So, it’s okay for her to have some vulnerability?”

“Absolutely. Strong and vulnerable can be an interesting mix, don’t you think?”

“Yes! I like that. I also wanted to tell you that I’ve done combat and firearm training. So I can handle just about anything Ben was going to do.”

“I can’t believe Benton didn’t tell me that!”

“He probably forgot. It wasn’t needed before.”

“I was still going to have you do the gun stuff, but I’d taken out the fight scene. I know we already have a stunt double for you, but I didn’t think it was fair to throw you into that at the last minute.”

“Well, throw me in, cos I’m ready to throw down,” she said, and Nicole laughed.

“I love your enthusiasm, I really do, but the other thing is that I don’t know how realistic it’ll look. We can make it believable for your character to go medieval on their asses, but the audience is only going to suspend disbelief so far.”

“Oh, come on! They’ll believe what you make them believe. Put in a montage of me lifting weights and training to fight, and you’ll have them. It’s all about tone, anyway.”

Waverly took a sip of her water, and Nicole kept watching her. She was starting to think there might be an edge there, one she could use.

“That’s interesting, what you say about tone. Tell me more about that.”

“Nothing.”

“No, I’m really interested. How do you think about the tone of this movie?”

“It’s not my movie. I don’t think anything.”

“You’re the star.”

She said it teasingly, and Waverly’s eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled. Nicole raised her eyebrows, making it clear she wasn’t going to let it go.

“Okay, well, I’m going to be really honest and say that there were things about the script I found a bit silly, and I was hoping the director was going to find a way to wink at the audience. You know those movies where you know it’s ridiculous, but you’re having so much fun you don’t care?”

Nicole fell silent. Waverly was putting it mildly, and she’d been working hard to stamp the cheesiness out of the script. But maybe she’d been going about it all wrong. What if, in trying to make it grittier, she was sucking all the fun out of it?

With the constraint of having to use the same locations and most of the same actors, she could only change so much. It was a B movie. But like Waverly said, B movies could be a whole lot of fun if they were done right.

“Okay, what are some of the most fun movies like that you can think of?”

She expected Waverly to pause for a moment to think, but instead, she gave a rapid-fire answer. “ _Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill. Foxy Brown._ That one with J-Lo…”

She clicked her fingers, and Nicole grasped for the answer.

“Oh, _Enough_!

“Yeah! That was awesome.”

“So what you’re saying is, you’d be happy to go balls to the wall, full-on revenge mama.”

“If that’s what you wanted, absolutely.”

The subtle emphasis on the “you” and the way Waverly was looking at her gave Nicole a strange feeling. A fluttering in her stomach.

It was silly. Nicole was the director, that was all she meant by it.

They stayed long after they’d finished their meals. Together, they came up with a few ideas about making the transformation of Waverly’s character believable. The more they talked, the more she was convinced that Waverly would be able to pull this off.

By the end of the lunch, Nicole was itching to get home to write, only this time it wasn’t because she was under pressure. It was one of those small creative miracles. In the last hour, her vision had clicked into place.

“You know what? Why don’t we get together again in a couple of weeks? I should be almost done. I can give you a couple of scenes to start working on.”

“I’d love that,” she replied, getting out her cell so they could exchange numbers.

As they parted, Waverly looked back over her shoulder, giving her a half-smile.

Nicole broke into a broad grin, watching her go reluctantly. She could have hung out for longer.

Her goal was clear. She was going to write Waverly Earp a star-making part.


	2. Chapter 2

_Angel smirks, lifting the gun. But then, she’s all business. We pull in on her face._

_ANGEL_

_Keep talking, motherfucker. I double dare you._

Writing had never been this fun.

She’d always thought that original works were her thing, but she loved giving the text a makeover and working out how to keep it all hanging together. It was like a puzzle or a playground.

Script doctors might spend months working on a piece, so she knew what she’d promised Benton was crazy. Every night, she worked until the early hours, fortified by black coffee and nervous energy.

Writing with Waverly in mind fuelled her, too. She worked in some of that natural sweetness, knowing it would make for a fun contrast when she flipped into badassery. Sometimes, when she changed dialogue, her goal was simply to make Waverly laugh.

On Tuesday night the week of the deadline, she was so engrossed that she missed a call with Shae and didn’t see the texts asking where she was until it was too late. When she finally realized, she sent an apologetic text and promised to call first thing.

The late night was worth it. By the time she fell into bed, she was all but done. The script was fun and campy like she wanted it, but she was sure she’d pulled off the unthinkable feat of pleasing the production company, too.

All she had to do was a final proofread. That night, she had dreams that she couldn’t remember except for the sight of her muse’s face.

When she woke up the next morning, it was after ten, and she picked up her phone. She braced herself for Shae’s anger while she waited for her to pick up on Facetime.

“Hello.”

“Hey, honey, I’m sorry. I lost track of time. I was working.” 

“I was so worried. It’s not like you to disappear like that.”

“I know. It’s just a crazy time.”

“Yeah. How’s the writing going?”

“It’s going great. I finished it last night!”

“You did? I thought you said you’d be lucky to get it done by the deadline?”

“I know, I don’t know how I did it, I just got on a roll. I’m happy with it. I really feel like this movie’s gonna work.”

“That’s great, babe,” Shae replied. She was smiling, but her brow was creased.

“What’s up? I’m really sorry about last night.”

“It’s not that…”

“C’mon, we agreed that this long-distance thing doesn’t work if we don’t communicate, right?”

She looked offscreen. “I’m really happy for you, but I’m worried too. You’ll be working on this for months and months, and I can see time slipping away. It’ll be Christmas before we know it. I thought you were going to come and join me.”

Nicole stared at her.

It was Shae’s choice to take the job in Boston. In some ways, it was natural for her to act like her job was more important. But didn’t her own plans count for anything? She’d wanted to be a filmmaker since she was a kid. They lived here in L.A. together for a year, Shae working in a local hospital emergency room and worrying that her career was stalling. Nicole had worried too, not wanting to hold her back.

Nicole clenched her jaw. “I never said that. We said that we’d see. If I got work, I was always going to stay. I was honest about that from the beginning.”

“Do you understand what an accomplishment it was for me to get into the surgical program? I had to come.”

“I know.”

It was why she’d been supportive of Shae moving away. Nicole insisted that Shae take the job without her, that they’d work it out. They negotiated their agreement. Nicole quickly made plans to move into a smaller place with a roommate that she found online. The last thing she wanted was Shae supporting her financially.

Shae sighed heavily. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”

Nicole forced herself to take a deep breath and talk. Shae always complained about how quiet she went at times like this.

“Babe. Can we not do this right now? The script’s pretty much done, but I’ve got so much to think about. Are you still coming out here on your days off next week?”

“Of course.”

“Then please, can’t we talk about all of this in person? I’ll spend as much time with you as I possibly can.”

“Okay.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

When they hung up, Nicole checked the time. Shit. It was already so late, and she had to drive across town for her coffee meeting with Waverly this afternoon. She was so close to being done, but she loved the idea of having the script proofed and locked down before she went out.

She pulled up Waverly’s contact, and she picked up after a few rings, sounding surprised to hear from her.

“Hey. Sorry to do this at the last minute, but I was wondering if we could meet closer to my place?”

“Sure. I thought you were calling to cancel for a second there.”

“No, I still want to meet! I just worked late and overslept. It’s only a half-hour drive across, but I thought if you weren’t too busy…”

“Nope, not busy at all. I have to work later but the afternoon’s free. Where are you?”

“Silver Lake.”

“Get out! Me too.”

“Really? I can’t believe we were both gonna drive across to Santa Monica when we live in the same neighborhood. My favorite coffee place is just down the street. _Noir_ , do you happen to know it?”

“That is too funny. It’s like, a five-minute walk. See you at two?”

“See you then.”

Nicole worked for a couple of hours in her pajamas, breaking only to eat cold pizza for lunch. She couldn’t wait to see Waverly’s face when she told her it was done, and that she could read it today.

After taking a quick shower, she fussed around with the top button on her blue shirt, trying to figure out whether it looked better open. She sang to herself, too excited to let her problems with Shae ruin her afternoon.

She was ready in time to get to FedEx for printing, just like she’d hoped. Soon she was holding the completed script in her hands, with an extra copy for Waverly. She could have emailed - it’s what she’d done for Benton as soon as she’d finished it – but she loved the idea of presenting one to her.

This time, Waverly had arrived first and was waiting for her at one of the outdoor tables at _Noir_. She was looking down at her phone, wearing a light blue tank top.

Nicole’s pace slowed as she took a moment to stare. Last time they’d met, she’d noticed how petite Waverly was, but she hadn’t been wearing a tight top like that. She was curvy, and her arms were surprisingly muscular.

In Nicole’s mind, right now, she _was_ Angel. She could see her cocking a gun, flexing a bicep. This was going to be awesome.

Then Waverly looked up, a smile brightening her features. She scrambled to get up. “Hi!”

“Hey!”

They both stepped forward at the same time, Waverly leaning in to give her an air kiss. Whatever perfume she wore, it was very appealing. She put a hand on Nicole’s shoulder.

She couldn’t say why, but something about it felt so intimate that when she moved away, Nicole couldn’t look her in the eye.

“How have you been doing with the rewrite?”

“I have some good news,” she said, opening her messenger bag.

As she took it out, she imagined that the paper was still warm from the copier. There was nothing better than seeing those big neat stacks, the dialogue and stage direction laid out in black lines. Waverly’s face said that she felt the same way.

“Is that finished?”

“It is! I had a burst of inspiration and got it done last night, and this morning.”

Waverly took it from her hands reverently, running her eyes over the front page. “ _The End of Vengeance_.”

She laughed at the way Waverly said it, in an exaggerated deep voice like they used in the trailers.

“I can’t wait to read this.”

“I hope you like it.”

“I know I will.”

They locked eyes for a beat.

Their waitress stood next to the table, and Nicole smirked at how she tried to look at the script. “What can I get you?”

They ordered coffee, and when the waitress was gone, Waverly packed the script away into her oversized handbag.

“It’s going to be so nice to read something basically new, and know that I already have the part.”

“I bet. It’s tough out there. You said you have another job?” Nicole asked.

“Yep, waitressing gig at a bar. They’ve said I should be able to come back when we’re done.”

“That’s good. How long have you lived in L.A.?”

“A couple of years. I’m from the sticks, up in Canada.”

“Get out! I’m Canadian, too! I grew up in Toronto.”

“I just heard your accent! I didn’t notice it before. I’m from a little town near the Rockies, Purgatory. Do you know it?”

“Not really, but I’ve heard of it, I think.”

Nicole couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. The sun was shining, she’d developed the script into work she was excited about, and she was at a meeting that meant something.

This was her lead, and they were hitting it off. Shae had been gone for months now, and she had her film school friends, but nobody she was super close to. She hadn’t even thought about how lonely she’d been.

They chatted about the weirdness of living here and the jobs they’d been doing to get by before the conversation turned toward filmmaking.

“So, it was interesting to see all your notes on the script. Have you always worked the same way?” Nicole asked, blowing on the top of her coffee.

“Yep. I like to learn it front to back and plan things out to the letter, then let it all go when I get onto set. What about you…What’s your work style like?”

“I like to be well prepared, too. But what I want most is for the set to be comfortable. I want to run a tight ship, but it should be fun, too.”

“I agree. I’ve worked with a couple of directors who didn’t feel that way.”

“I never understood that. We get to play for a living.”

They smiled across the table at one another, and her heart leaped. For so long, she’d worked the dreary call center job and hustled to try to get a gig. It was the same for Waverly, and they were both going to grab this opportunity with both hands.

Waverly broke first, checking the time on her phone. “Shit, I should be going. I’ve got to get to work.”

“No problem.”

It was a shame. Again, she could have sat here talking all afternoon.

“I wish I didn’t have to work. I’m pulling for a quiet shift so I can snatch a look at the script. I can’t wait to read it.”

“You’ll let me know what you think?”

“Of course!”

***

A couple of hours later, Nicole was in old jeans and a T-shirt, cleaning the apartment. It was tiny, but she was lucky enough to have a roommate who was barely home. He was a guitarist who spent all his time gigging around, and he had a boyfriend who lived in San Francisco.

She’d been neglecting the place for the last couple of weeks while she worked on the script. As she vacuumed and wiped down surfaces, she mentally went over shots she wanted for the opening scene. She’d met the director of photography and had a good feeling about him.

From across the room, her phone buzzed. She ran across to grab it, wiping her palms on her thighs.

She grinned when she saw that she’d already missed a couple of messages from Waverly.

 _Just got to read the opening scene. It’s so badass! I can’t wait to read more_.

 _Wow, I just read the start again. It’s like a whole different movie (in a good way of course!)_.

_Got to read a few more pages. I LOVE the scene with Angel’s mom. You kept a lot of it the same, too! : )_

Nicole tapped out a quick reply. _Great that you got time to look! And that you like it. Means a lot_.

Before she was done pushing her cell into her back pocket, she felt it buzzing again.

_Of course I like it!! Sorry to keep texting but it’s pretty quiet here like I was hoping and the manager isn’t here. This is so exciting._

_No apology necessary_ , she said with a thumbs up. _Please keep it coming._

She hoped she didn’t sound as desperate for approval as she felt. Benton had replied to her email with a one-line response, giving no indication of when he was planning to read the script.

Instead of getting back to cleaning, she grabbed a beer from the fridge and slumped down on the sofa. She might as well chill out while she could. The next few months would be a frenzy.

_OMG! I can’t believe you included my idea. I’m honored. But you wrote it so much better than I said it._

Nicole giggled. For the next couple of hours, they went back and forth, and she only got up to reheat some leftovers and grab another drink. She put her feet up on the armrest, content to wait in between messages.

_What an epic ending. Seriously. Ties everything up so much better. Wow!!_

_I’m thrilled that you like it, really._

There was a long pause, and for a moment, the messages stopped. She supposed there was nothing more to say, and she was being greedy about the compliments. She sighed, but then her phone buzzed again.

_I know it’s getting late but I am about to go on my break. Would you mind if I please called you?_

After all that punctuation and the emojis, the formality was jarring. Something was off now.

There were sounds of passing cars in the background, Waverly raising her voice to be heard. “Hey.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

There was a nervous laugh, then silence.

“Waverly?”

“I feel real bad, calling you like this.”

“It’s okay…What is it?”

“I loved the script, I’m just feeling very weird about everything.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, her tone sharpening.

Jesus, was Waverly going to drop out, too? What the fuck was she going to do?

“No, I mean, shit. Sorry. I shouldn’t have called. It’ll be fine.”

She bit her thumbnail. She’d really thought Waverly would get it, that she'd be excited. Maybe she’d pegged her all wrong. Maybe Waverly had just been playing the Hollywood bullshit game like she’d done herself with Benton.

“I could make some more changes if there’s something specific you have a problem with…”

“Huh? No! I’m saying this all wrong. I mean, I guess I’m freaking out a little because it’s a better movie than what I signed up for. I should be auditioning for this. I want to feel like I earned it.”

“Oh no, Waverly…”

She put her hand to her forehead. This was her fault. When they’d met, she’d let her disappointment show, and Waverly had seen it.

“I know I sound like a typical insecure actress. I promise you, I’ll pull it together.”

“And I promise you, I know you can do this.”

“But how do you know?”

“Because I rewrote most of this with you in mind. After I’d met you. You’re my perfect Angel.”

It hung in the air, and then they both laughed.

“That fucking name. But I’m serious, okay?” Nicole said.

“Okay. Thanks. I already take classes, but I’ll do some work with a coach if I have to.”

Nicole could imagine what she looked like right now, her brow furrowing with determination. So cute.

“I like your commitment. But let’s wait and see, okay? Tell you what, why don’t we do some work on your big scenes before the read-through?”

“You’re too busy for that.”

“Excuse me? I’ll decide that.”

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to hold my hand.”

“You’re my lead actress. I want to do some work. Leave it with me, and I’ll send you a message with a time for us to meet. I’ll get us a space at the production company office. Just you and me. Okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, Nicole.”

They ended the call, and she bounced on the balls of her feet. She couldn’t wait to hear Waverly saying the words she’d written.

When the thought popped into her mind that she couldn’t wait to see Waverly period, she pushed it out.


	3. Chapter 3

_ANGEL smiles bravely, holding back tears._

_LAURA_

_You were always the big little sister, weren’t you?_

_They hug. When we see ANGEL over her mother’s shoulder, there’s a steeliness in her eyes we haven’t seen before._

A few days later, Nicole was downtown, standing in front of the home of Hook Productions. Their offices took up a floor of the rust-colored air deco building, which must have been impressive back in the '70s. Now, the front windows were coated with grime and paint flaked from the facade.

Nicole sipped her coffee and leaned against the wall. She’d spent half of yesterday in meetings, but none of them had been the fun kind, so she’d been looking forward to this. Benton and the production heads were positive about the script, but nobody was as invested as Waverly.

When Waverly rounded the corner, she was so fresh and pretty in her short pink skirt and powder blue top. She could swear that as she discreetly looked her up and down, Waverly was doing the same to her. Her eyes lingered over Nicole’s legs, then trailed over her chest. After a moment, their gazes locked.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

Typically, she found the whole air kiss thing pretentious, but it felt warm when Waverly did it. Nicole stuck her hands in her pockets, then nodded toward the building.

“You ready?”

“Sure!” she said, beaming.

Nicole opened the door and gestured for her to go first. As she walked in behind her, she thought that the chemistry between them was just one of those things. They’d quickly formed an excellent rapport, and there was no point worrying about it. This crush would run its course and burn out.

If anything, their connection would make the work go more smoothly.

They walked close to one another as the receptionist led them to the space Nicole requested, passing framed movie posters along the way. Waverly bumped her with an elbow and pointed to one. A shirtless dude glowered down at them, holding a balled fist toward the camera.

“That’ll be me,” she whispered, and they laughed with their heads bent together.

The room had stark white walls and gray carpet, with large windows facing out to the city skyline. There wasn’t much in it save for a few chairs stacked against the wall. She moved to take a couple down, but Waverly stopped her.

“I don’t care about sitting on the floor, do you?”

She shrugged, then dropped her bag on the ground, and they sat cross-legged to face one another. Waverly drew her marked-up script from her bag and looked at her expectantly.

She took a beat, wanting to get this right. Collaborating with other artists was why she’d wanted to get into the business. Directing was all about bringing the best out of a performer. In the small amount of time she’d spent with her, she’d figured that she didn’t need flattery or tricks.

She wanted to gain her complete trust. Honesty had to be everything.

“I want to know what scares you most about the part and what you have to do. It’s just between you and me.”

She gave her a piercing look, one she couldn’t decipher the meaning of. Then, she propped her chin on her fist.

“There are a few things.”

“Try me. We’ll work through them together.”

“Some of it’s jitters about carrying a movie, like, having a starring role for the first time.”

“Completely natural. And I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

“I know, and it helps. I think I’m most nervous about the scene with my mom.”

“The one you showed me the first day we met.”

“Yes. It’s the scene I love the most. Maybe that’s why.”

Nicole bit her lip, going over it in her mind. “I kept in you breaking down, but it’s so different now. A lot of quick shifts.”

“Exactly.”

“You’ve studied where they are, haven’t you?” she asked, nodding toward Waverly’s script.

“Of course! But I don’t want to over-intellectualize. I don’t know, I just think too much.”

Nicole looked into her clear green eyes. Jesus, she was so hard on herself. She had to stop herself from reaching over to lay a comforting hand on her knee. “That’s okay. It’s like you said, we do the work now, and then you’ll be able to let go on set.”

“I hope so.”

“Of course, you will. I’m going to run it with you right now and give you some notes.”

“Now?” she said, voice squeaking.

“Yeah! That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”

Nicole stood with the script in hand, Waverly’s eyes following her. She reached down, beckoning until Waverly took her free hand. She tugged gently until she was up.

“Okay. I apologize in advance for how wooden this is going to sound. I’m definitely not an actor.”

“I bet lots of people have suggested it, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because you’re so beautiful,” she blurted. “You look like you could be a movie star.”

She laughed softly while Waverly ducked her head. “I don’t think so. I’ll leave that to you.”

The words were out of her mouth before she could think about it, her tone way more flirtatious than it sounded in her head. Waverly was smiling, bending to pick up her script.

Waverly glanced over the scene, then put the script back down. She shook her arms around and stretched out her neck.

“Ready when you are.”

“You’ve already learned all your lines?”

“More or less.”

Nicole grinned, then wiped it off her face to read the opening line. When she glanced back up, she saw the transformation instantly. The way she held herself, the pitch of her voice, the look in her eyes…it was all so _not_ -Waverly.

She was so engrossed that it took a while to say her next line, but Waverly didn’t miss a beat.

They went back and forth, Waverly launching into Angel’s speech about how her sister’s death had tilted the world from its axis. It was word perfect, and she did it through choked sobs, her back straight.

Nicole searched her face, seeing every bit of the strength and conviction she’d imagined Angel having.

She couldn’t take her eyes from her.

Nicole’s heart thudded. The producers said they liked Waverly, but surely they had no idea what they had in her. It was remarkable the way she was selling the shit out of this scene.

The monologue drew to a close, and Nicole looked at her script. She was afraid of reacting too much and throwing Waverly off. She needed to see how it ended.

“You were always the big little sister, weren’t you?”

Waverly gave a watery smile then stepped forward, pulling her into a hug.

She wished she could see what was playing over Waverly’s face while she was in her arms. Without looking, she was positive it was dynamite. In the beginning, she wasn’t thinking anything but that.

A moment later, it was something else entirely, her mind settling on the fact that they’d been holding one another much longer than they needed to.

Waverly’s head was tucked under Nicole’s chin, her soft frame pressed tightly against her. Reflexively, Nicole had put her arms around her, and in turn, Waverly’s arms encircled her waist. She was so soft and sweet-smelling.

She hadn’t hugged anyone for a while, not like this. It was easy to forget why they were here and focus only on how good it felt. So right.

She closed her eyes.

They both jumped at the sound of music playing.

“Oh shoot, I thought I put that on silent,” Waverly said, leaning away and reaching down to her bag. “Sorry.”

“No problem, of course.”

She looked at her phone for a second and rejected the call.

“Waverly, that scene, you did…”

The phone started ringing again. She hadn’t had even had the chance to stand, and she looked up at Nicole apologetically.

“I’m so sorry.”

“You can get that, it’s fine.”

Waverly nodded and turned her back, walking over to the corner of the room. She pulled her own phone from her jeans pocket to busy herself because there was nowhere for either of them to go. She tried to pretend that she couldn’t hear every word, even with her lowered voice.

“Why are you calling? I told you I had a meeting…It’s important…You don’t listen!”

She looked back over her shoulder self-consciously, and Nicole gave her a reassuring smile. Who was she talking to?

“I don’t care! Find it yourself.”

She hung up, then took a moment to change her phone settings before she put it back in her bag.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. It was just my boyfriend. He has an audition today, and he can’t find the shirt he wants to wear. Honestly, it’s like having a child.”

The smile froze on her face. Later, she would think about how strange it was for her to be disappointed that Waverly had a boyfriend, but that was how she felt. And some douchebag who couldn’t even manage his own wardrobe? It wasn’t what she would have imagined for her.

“Your boyfriend’s an actor too, huh?”

“Isn’t everyone in L.A.? We moved down here together. His name’s Champ Hardy.”

Nicole schooled her expression. That couldn’t be the name he was born with. It made him sound like a porn star. She had no idea why people picked such ridiculous stage names.

“Cool. Has he booked much?”

“A few guest spots here and there. He’s doing alright.”

Nicole had a terrifying thought that she might ask if there was anything available for him in the movie. It would put her in an awkward position, but Hollywood ran on nepotism.

Instead, she drew in a deep breath and moved closer. “So. Again, I apologize for the interruption. Do you have any notes for me?”

She broke into a big smile. “That was incredible. Seriously. You hit all the right beats. If you did it exactly like that, the scene would be great.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I’ll work with you more when you’ve got a scene partner, but you have nothing to worry about. How are you with crying, can you normally get there or was today easier than usual?”

“Never an issue.”

“Amazing. I’m impressed, really.”

“Thank you. So. I know I had a lot of bravado about being tough when I first met you. But that’s my other big fear. That I won’t be able to pull off that part of the character.”

“I don’t know, you were pretty scary just now with your boyfriend. I wouldn’t want to mess with you.”

Waverly shoved her shoulder, and they broke up laughing.

“Seriously, though, you can trust me. If it’s not going right, I’ll let you know, and we’ll adjust. That’s my job. Okay?”

She didn’t know if she’d ever get used to the intensity in the way Waverly looked at her.

“Can we try some stuff out now?” she asked.

“Yep.”

They agreed on which scene to run, and once more, Nicole had the pleasure of watching Waverly disappear into her character. She used her fingers for a gun, pointing it at Nicole’s face while she threatened her, her feet planted apart.

She was menacing, but there was a note of humor there too. It was impossible to pin down how Waverly was doing it, striking that perfect balance, but it worked. And it was thrilling to watch.

When the scene was done, Nicole stepped forward and put her hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes so she’d know she really meant it.

“I already had confidence in you, but after this, I know you’re going to be incredible.”

They stood for another moment, neither of them in a hurry to move. Nicole was so excited she could crawl out of her skin. How many times in your life did it feel like everything was going exactly right? Not only had she scored this gig, but she’d met an actor she already wanted to work with again. She gave Waverly’s shoulders another reassuring squeeze, then drew back.

Waverly moved to sit cross-legged like before, but then let out an exaggerated sigh and lay on her back. 

Nicole laughed, sitting next to her on the carpet. Being here reminded her of the handful of drama classes she’d taken to understand more about acting. It wasn’t unusual to lie down or dance around or whatever. Actors were a loose bunch.

“Was that a good sigh or a bad one?”

Her eyes were closed, and Nicole watched the rise and fall of her chest. “A good one. You have no idea how relieved I am. Thanks for being so supportive.”

Her long hair was fanned out, framing her face perfectly. It was so glossy-looking that Nicole wondered what it would be like to run it through her fingers.

Mainly to stop herself from staring, she lay down on the carpet too, next to her.

“Wow, it feels good to lie down,” she moaned, stretching her arms over her head.

“Totally. I’m on my feet a lot at work. Same for you?”

“Oh no, I quit my day job. I’ve been running around a lot for the movie. Hustling to make everything work. If I sound like I’m complaining, I’m not. This is a dream come true.”

“For me, too. Did you always want to be a director?”

“Yep. We had one of those old VHS recorders when I was a kid, and I started making little movies then. I was obsessed with movies. Always.”

“I bet you were so cute.”

Nicole turned her head slightly, but she was staring up at the ceiling.

“Did you always want to act?”

“For as long as I can remember. My home life wasn’t so great. I guess it was the escape I needed.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Movies take you away.”

“Yeah. And I liked the feeling of living in someone’s shoes, just for a little while. I want to do that for people. That’s my ultimate.”

“I can see it. Some little girl, watching Angel shoot up the bad guys and feeling tough. Like she can take on the bullies.”

“Exactly! Like how I felt about Clint Eastwood when I was little.”

She giggled and rolled onto her side, holding herself up on an elbow. “Clint Eastwood? Not who I would have imagined.”

“Oh, of course! They shot one of his movies in Calgary. It was on TV all the time, and then I watched all his old ones. Could you tell I was copying his voice a little?”

“I couldn’t, but that’s great. I love it.”

They had another one of those moments, one in which time seemed to stretch out while they stared into one another’s eyes. Nicole flopped back down onto her back.

“What about you?” Waverly said.

“What do you mean? Do I want to be Clint Eastwood, too?” she replied, through giggles.

“No, I mean. When we were talking about Champ, I meant to ask, what about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

“I have a girlfriend, Shae.”

It took a while for her to answer, and when Nicole glanced over, she was playing with her hair. “Cool. Is she in the business as well?”

“Nope, she’s a doctor. We’re doing the long-distance thing at the moment actually. She’s in Boston.”

“Oh yeah?”

“It’s just better for both of us with work at the moment. But we get to see each other all the time. She’ll be here on Wednesday for a couple of days.”

There was no answer at first. She knew how defensive she sounded even though Waverly hadn’t said anything bad - she was just so used to negative comments about long-distance relationships.

She’d thought about it enough to know that she had some major hang-ups, too. She was always wondering if there was something wrong between her and Shae. Before she moved, she’d thought that missing her would be unbearable, but she’d forged ahead with staying in L.A. out of pride.

It turned out to be so different than what she’d imagined. Sometimes she almost forgot about being in a relationship and forgot to miss her girlfriend. The guilt was hard to bear.

Waverly broke into her thoughts. “Bet you can’t wait to see her.”

“Absolutely.”

The comparison slipped into her mind before she could stop it. She’d been looking forward to this meeting, and to seeing Waverly, more than she was looking forward to seeing her girlfriend.

It wasn’t something she could let herself dwell on. It was making her crazy.

“Hey. Are you going to write a sequel, or what?” Waverly asked.

“A sequel? I’m already working on a trilogy.”

“The End of Vengeance Two, Angel’s Revenge.”

“The End of Vengeance Three, and this time, Angel does time travel.”

Waverly kicked her, and they dissolved into giggles, rolling around on the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who's left kudos and comments on the story so far. It means a lot.

_LAURA_

_I worry about you, honey. There are some things you can’t come back from._

_ANGEL_

_What if I don’t want to come back? I was meant to be this way, mom. They fear me now. I’m not going to stop until every last one of them is in the ground._

Waverly wiped down the bar, running lines and trying different inflections in Angel’s voice. She scooped up an empty glass and pocketed the tip it rested on.

“ _They_ fear _me_ now,” she whispered.

Tapping on her chest might work. She’d like to make a note to try it, but she didn’t want to get busted pulling out her script while the boss was here.

Working on her scenes was an excellent way to pass the time. She usually spent her shifts making up stories in her head about the customers. She loved studying them, checking out their mannerisms to see if there was anything she could use.

Now she found herself slipping back into people-watching. While she was cleaning the bar had filled up, patrons scattered around on stools at the high tables, a few more on the sofas. A woman sat with one leg crossed over her knee in a way that made her look tough. That’s how Angel would sit.

It was almost happy hour, and the sun slanted through the windows while blues music played. It was a nice place to work, but she wouldn’t miss it. Every time she thought about why she was leaving, her heart soared.

After she found out about all the changes, she’d looked up Nicole’s credits on IMDb. She’d seen one of her shorts at a festival the year before. It focused on a woman working in a factory, somehow capturing her whole life on her face. That film told her that Nicole was the real deal, especially when it was paired with how Nicole came across. Even if this was her first feature, she was going to do something special.

She knew it.

A customer seated himself at the bar, and she smiled at him, doing her best to be present while she took his order. She laughed at one of his jokes, but if someone had asked, she wouldn’t have been able to repeat what he’d said a few moments later. It was getting harder to pull herself down to earth lately. She’d been excited to land the role, but it was nothing compared to how she felt now.

This town was full of girls like her, scraping by on tips and dreaming about getting a break. There were girls more beautiful and more talented than she was, but she’d been plucked from the pack and given a role that would put her on a set for weeks and weeks. For once, she was going to get the chance to show what she could do. She was scared to death of screwing it up, but working with Nicole was helping with that.

The fact that she wouldn’t be Nicole’s first choice for the role - she’d seen it on her face at that first meeting - only made her work harder. She was making progress in that department, with their workshop going so well. Nicole was helpful and warm. If she was on a tightrope, then Nicole was the net, and she couldn’t ask for a director more supportive than she was being.

She liked thinking about her. Nicole was so beautiful. Tall and lean, with that dimple, not to mention the pale skin and brown eyes. There was nothing wrong with a harmless crush. She looked up to her. She was technically her boss, even if she treated her like an equal.

When she turned around from making change for the patron at the bar, she almost dropped it. It was like daydreaming about Nicole had summoned her. There she was, standing a few feet away.

Waverly smiled back at her and placed the money on the bar, then walked over to her.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

“Right? We just came in for a drink before dinner. I didn’t know this was your place.”

Oh. For a moment, she’d assumed that Nicole had come to see her. She forgot that she’d never told Nicole the name of the bar where she worked. They lived in the same neighborhood, so it wasn’t that much of a coincidence.

When she spoke, Nicole pointed back over her shoulder with a thumb. It only took a moment to clock her girlfriend, glancing over at them. Of course, she was utterly gorgeous.

“Oh, right. You said she was coming. What can I get you?”

“I’ll take a beer and a gin and tonic, please.”

“You’re right in time for happy hour. Where are you headed for dinner?” Waverly asked as she poured and mixed.

“Don’t know. We’re just wandering around, really. Shae only got in this afternoon.”

“Have you been to The White Lotus? The Vietnamese place just down the street?”

“No, but we both love Vietnamese,” she said, taking her phone from her back pocket to note it down. “It’s not too fancy, is it?”

“Super casual. But the food’s to die for, you’ll thank me,” Waverly replied, pushing the drinks across the bar and then miming a chef’s kiss. It got a laugh.

“Thanks.”

She watched her go, noticing how good she looked in those black jeans. The white T-shirt and chunky tan boots she wore with them were so effortless and cool. Man, if she was in the girlfriend’s shoes? There’d be none of this going out to dinner. They’d be heading right to bed, especially with not seeing one another for a while.

Shit. When Nicole reached the table, she realized Shae was staring back at her. She looked away quickly, hoping she hadn’t been caught.

She gathered empty glasses lining the bar. Sometimes, certain interests she pushed down had a way of rising up, which she supposed was normal. She’d never slept with a woman, but it wasn’t like she didn’t think about it. She’d accepted years ago that she was attracted to women too, but she’d been with Champ for so long that acting on it had never been an option. She’d made the mistake of letting him know once, and he was gross about it. It was better to keep it to herself.

For a while, she paid attention to what she was doing, only peeking at Shae and Nicole every now and then. They were deep in conversation, leaning across the table toward one another. They looked good together, and she wondered how they’d met, how long they’d been together.

She was talking to one of her regulars when she saw Shae and Nicole at the bar, side by side. She excused herself and walked over, feeling ridiculously nervous about talking to Shae. In the last twenty minutes, she’d taken on a mythical status. A beautiful surgeon who got to be with someone like Nicole? Some people got everything.

“Hi,” she said brightly, covering it as well as she could.

“Hey. Sorry if you’re busy, but Shae wanted to meet you. Shae, this is Waverly, Waverly, Shae,” Nicole said.

“Not too busy at all,” she replied, quickly wiping her palm so she could shake Shae’s offered hand. “So nice to meet you.”

“You too. I just had to meet Nicole’s leading lady. She tells me you’re very talented.”

“Thanks,” she said, but she waved the compliment away with a hand.

“Can we get another round, please? Same again?” Shae asked.

“Of course,” she said, reaching for the wine bottle. She could feel Nicole’s eyes on her. She really wanted to turn her head to meet them, but she resisted, afraid that it would be obvious how much she liked being looked at by her.

“You must be so thrilled to get this part. I mean, I worked in a bar when I was at school, and I wouldn’t go back to it for anything,” Shae said.

It was said in a jokey way, but Waverly had to stop herself from reacting. People said all kinds of weird shit to her when she was at work, she spent her evenings talking to drunk people after all, but that one stung. Tending bar might not be her dream job, but there was nothing wrong with it.

She darted her eyes at Nicole, who was staring at Shae, her expression hard to read.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Waverly said, turning on a smile to break the tension.

“Congratulations. I’m hoping I’ll get to swing by the set at least once,” she replied, passing her a fifty.

“For sure. I’ll just grab your change.”

“Keep it.”

Waverly hesitated. That was a ridiculously large tip. “It’s happy hour, just so you know.”

“I know. Like I said, I know what it’s like.”

“Thanks,” she said, flushing. Could she make it any more awkward? The worst part was when she looked at Nicole, whose eyebrows were knitted together like she felt sorry for her.

“Cool, well, let’s go sit down,” Shae said to Nicole, before walking away from the bar. For a moment, Nicole didn’t follow.

The last thing she wanted was to keep talking after Shae had just treated her like a charity case, so she quickly turned around toward the cash register. When she was done, she was relieved to see Nicole walking back toward their table.

Now she worked extra hard to not look at them, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

From the corner of her eye, she saw when they got up to leave. Nicole looked over at her, but she had her hands full with a big group. They couldn’t do anything but wave at one another.

Waverly spent the rest of the night blanking out any thoughts of the two of them together.

***

The following day, she spent the morning working on her script. Champ was at work, and she loved having the place to herself. Their apartment was so small that he grated on her when she was trying to focus. It made her so happy to sit down with a cup of coffee and a notebook, jotting down ideas for how to play scenes and questions for Nicole.

They had another workshop planned for in a few days, and she couldn’t wait. The next morning, she was going into the production offices for make-up testing and another wardrobe fitting. This was all really happening.

When her mood darkened now and then, she had to stop to figure out what was lurking underneath. It was that stupid conversation with Shae, making her feel small.

That afternoon she walked to work, thinking about the fact that this was one of the last times she’d be going in for a while. It was Thursday evening, and she was on with her favorite colleague, Shelly. Shelly was her hero. She might be only one hundred pounds soaking wet and shorter than her, but she’d taught Waverly so much about dealing with annoying customers.

They joked around while they worked, Shelly catching her up on a seedy Hollywood party she’d gone to the night before.

“And she had coke all over the outside of her nose, it was so obvious…hey your boyfriend’s here,” she said.

Waverly looked toward the door. It was a while since he’d dropped into work. They were like ships in the night lately, working such different hours, and truthfully that was how she preferred it. Ever since the Angel role got more significant, he’d been weird about everything. He was demanding more of her attention than usual. In the past, she would have worked at making things right with him, but she didn’t have the patience this time.

On the way over, she dragged her feet, but she accepted the kiss he pressed to her cheek. Maybe this bad patch would pass, and she’d feel close to him again. It’d happened before. Their relationship was the story she wanted to tell about her life – high school sweethearts, the star quarterback. They’d schemed to come down here together. They were going to take acting classes together and go to as many auditions as they could. Champ scored a couple of things, but she went to class by herself while he gamed or worked out.

“How was work?”

“Good. I cleaned some guy’s Ferrari, you should’ve seen it. Can I get a beer?”

She went to the tap, sighing. She was allowed to give out the occasional freebie, but she didn’t like doing it, and he knew it. Still, she felt guilty about how she’d been with him lately, so she smiled when she set it down in front of him.

A few moments later, after he started scrolling through Instagram, she caught a flash of red from the corner of her eye that made her heart trip.

It was really her. They smiled at one another, and Waverly searched the air around her, looking for the girlfriend.

She was alone.

“Hey!” she said, hating how high and squeaky her voice came out.

There was so much warmth in Nicole’s eyes, she never wanted her to look away. It was a crazy thing to think, but it was like Nicole could peel back the mask she put on for other people.

“I was hoping you were working. And that you didn’t mind me dropping in.”

“No, that’s okay,” she said, and they didn’t break eye contact while Nicole drew a stool up to the bar.

It took a beat to remember that her boyfriend was only a few seats away. She should introduce them, but when she flicked her eyes toward him, he was staring intently at his phone. There was something about Nicole’s demeanor that stopped her, too.

They both started to speak at the same time, and they went back and forth a few times, laughing at the stop-start of the conversation.

“Please, you go first,” Nicole said.

“I was just going to ask if you were having a nice time with Shae?”

Nicole’s smile faltered. “Yes, but she had to fly back this morning. She got called back to work.”

“I’m sorry, that sucks.”

“It happens. It’s the type of program where you can’t really say no if something comes up.”

“Sure.”

There was a drawn-out silence, then Nicole ran a hand through her hair. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have come. I was just walking around, feeling a little stressed about everything, and then I saw this place.”

Waverly leaned over and touched her shoulder. “It’s okay. Do you want something to drink?”

“Yeah, a beer, thanks.”

She poured, aware of Nicole’s eyes on her the whole time, then grabbed a glass for herself. She rarely drank at work, but her boss didn’t care about it as long as the staff didn’t get drunk. Nicole was embarrassed about stopping in, and she thought having a beer with her might show her how welcome she was.

“Now tell me, why are you stressed?”

“Honestly, it’s no biggie. Just a disagreement with Benton. I’ve got to learn how to deal. We’re going to butt heads the whole time.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Nicole smiled sweetly at her, took a sip. “That’s very nice of you, but I probably shouldn’t even be telling you this. I’m supposed to be giving you the impression I’ve got this all under control.”

“No, not at all. I want you to be able to tell me stuff.”

“You don’t think it’ll distract you or something?”

“No way!” she said, putting her hand over Nicole’s. “You’ve helped me so much already. I want you to feel comfortable talking to me, as well.”

“I do.”

Waverly squeezed her fingers, then let go. “Maybe it’s some kind of weird fate thing. If you believe in that stuff. Maybe we’re supposed to help each other out.”

Nicole searched her face, eyes burning into her. “I like that.”

“So, we’ll keep helping one another, and you’re not allowed to feel bad about it.”

“I agree,” she said, tapping her glass against Waverly’s.

“Hey, babe? Can I get another one?”

They both whipped around. Nicole looked like she wanted to haul off and punch him.

“Hey, it’s okay. He’s my boyfriend,” she said. She looked around for Shelly, but she was cleaning tables, so she poured him another beer herself. “Champ, this is Nicole.”

He waved from his seat, clearly having no intention of getting up. “Hi.”

“Oh. Hello. Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too,” he said, then went right back to his phone.

By the time she served another customer and got back to Nicole, she was pushing her stool in, leaving a few notes on the bar.

“Keep it,” Waverly said. “You sure you don’t want to stay for another one?”

“Thanks, but I should be getting home. I’ve got a bunch of calls to make.”

“No worries. I’ll see you at our meeting?”

“Absolutely.”

While she walked away, Waverly's stomach did somersaults.

“Who was that?” Shelly asked quietly. Waverly jumped, not realizing she was even there.

“That’s the director I was telling you about. Nicole.”

“You didn’t tell me how hot she was. Jesus.”

Waverly laughed nervously. “Well, I hadn’t really noticed.”

Shelly looked back at her with narrowed eyes, but she was smirking. “Whatever you say. She’s noticed you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“She was making eyes at you, I could see it,” she whispered.

“Don’t be silly,” she replied, then pulled away from the conversation to wipe down the bar.

Shelly saw things that weren’t there.

Nicole would never be into someone like her.

The brown eyes drifted back into her mind, and she tried to not think about how much she wanted it to be true.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again for your comments! It means everything to know that there are people out there appreciating this, for real.

_ANGEL: You don’t understand. The old Angel would have cried, but I can’t afford to feel anything right now. I’ll cry over their graves._

As she was leaving the bar, Nicole clenched her teeth hard enough for her jaw to hurt. It was the most lovely heart-to-heart with Waverly, but they weren’t as alone as she thought. Discovering that the boyfriend was only a few seats away was mortifying.

Before that, the conversation with Waverly was one of the only parts of her day that didn’t suck. They were so connected in those moments. Waverly was her shelter from the cold. When she touched Nicole’s hand, she was sure that everything was going to be okay.

Now that she was alone again, she wasn’t sure that things were going to be okay.

It was wrong with Shae, as soon as she arrived. They barely kissed hello. It was hard to say which of them was responsible for the distance, and she hoped they only needed some time to get on the same wavelength. Then Shae was so flashy with her money and rude toward Waverly, and Nicole called her out about it over dinner.

Shae said that Waverly was weird and that she didn’t like the way she stared at Nicole. That got under her skin, big time. Waverly wasn’t _weird_. How could Shae be so nasty about someone so kind?

It turned into the kind of fight that sent them to bed seething. By the time Nicole woke up the next morning, Shae had already changed her flight back. She insisted the early return was about work, but Nicole couldn’t shake the feeling it was an excuse.

She was starting to wonder how much longer their relationship could survive all this.

It was too much to think about right now. The more immediate problem was Benton, who called when she got back from taking Shae to the airport. He’d met with the financiers, and they were concerned about overseas markets. They wanted a sex scene for Angel.

Nicole put her hand to her forehead. “It’s not that kind of movie. The center is the action, the revenge.”

“What, it’s not the kind of movie that makes money? I’m telling you, the movie needs this. The original script had a sex scene in it, and you’ve taken it out.”

“Yeah, that’s because Ben’s not in it anymore. It’s no longer part of the story, and we can’t shoehorn a new love interest in there. How would it even work?”

“That’s not my problem. That’s your problem.”

“It’s way too late to be talking about adding this. We just finished locking things in after the rewrite.”

On the other end of the line, Benton was quiet. He could fire her if he wanted to, and they both knew it. She was one hundred percent replaceable. Maybe it was too much hassle for him after all the changes that had already been made. He only sighed.

“If you can’t do what I’m asking, at least add a shower scene.”

When she hung up, she muttered. “I need a fucking shower scene after talking to you.”

As she stuck her key in the door, she resolved to put it out of her head for the night.

The next morning she woke up knowing she had to keep doing just that, focusing and giving everything to the movie. As much as prioritizing her relationship with Shae was the right thing to do, she was relieved.

There was more time to work now, and she wanted to use it. She called her roommate to check that he was still flying in this afternoon. They’d talked about him scoring the movie, and maybe they could play with a few ideas. Then, she called a handful of the department heads and set up check-in times with them at the production office.

Her spirits lifted as she drove there, turning up the Aretha Franklin song on the radio. First, she met with her production designer, then chatted with her assistant director for a while. They were both seasoned pros who’d worked with Hook for years, and she wanted to learn everything she could from them.

She hadn’t set up a meeting with wardrobe, but the A.D. pointed her in the right direction, and she went over there to see if she could catch anyone. She’d only spoken with the costume designer, Leigh, over the phone. When she opened the door, her willowy frame and eccentric outfit matched her distinctive throaty voice. She reminded her of Steve Nicks.

After Nicole introduced herself, Leigh’s eyes lit up. “Your timing is perfect. We’re working on Angel, right now. Waverly’s here. Come in, come in.”

As soon as she heard Waverly’s name, her heart picked up speed. Leigh led her down a short hallway and into a large room filled with mannequins and racks of clothing. In the corner, a black screen divider stood, clothes draped over the top of it.

“Waverly, darling? Nicole’s here. Are you ready?”

“Oh, hey! I’ll be out in a sec.”

“I’ve got some pictures I can show you from what we’ve been working on this morning. You’re about to see what I’m thinking for the scene at the start of the second act.”

Nicole nodded. The big transformation moment, Angel getting ready to go out and start seeking her revenge. When she was writing, costume was way down the list of things she visualized. There should be a clear change to mark the transition, but she wasn’t attached to any particular idea.

When Waverly stepped out from behind the screen, Nicole stared for a good long while, drinking her in. For once, there was a good reason to look, so she let her gaze linger.

Dark jeans, a black tank top, and a leather jacket. The clothes were tight-fitting, and the neckline was low, showing off impressive cleavage. Her skin was a beautiful olive color, smooth as silk. It made her mouth go dry. She pulled her eyes away from that area quickly.

“Wow.”

Waverly smiled, a little shyly.

“I take it you like it?” Leigh asked.

Nicole cocked her head, bringing herself back to the task. “I do like it. Mainly. There might be something missing, but I’m not sure what it is.”

The three of them stood in front of one of the floor-length mirrors, assessing.

“What do you think, Waverly? How does it feel?”

“I agree. It’s close, but not quite right.”

When she turned to Nicole, the was a beat where she forgot what they were talking about. It was crazy, but when she looked into her eyes, all she could think about was what it would be like to kiss her. Soft-looking lips, a perfectly sculpted face she wanted to hold in her hands. It gave her tingles all over just to imagine it.

“What do you think’s missing?” Leigh asked.

Waverly looked down at herself. “Color. Angel would have at least a little bit of color.”

Leigh clicked her fingers, approaching one of the clothing racks. “I have this amazing coat I’ve been wanting to use. It might even be the right size. Close, anyway.”

She pulled out a motorcycle jacket with red racing stripes around the sleeves. When Waverly put the new one on and turned around again, the look came together perfectly.

“Holy shit. You’re right. That is iconic!” Nicole said, beaming. “You are a genius. You both are.”

Leigh clapped her hands together once. “It’s a great piece. A little oversized, but I’ll get it tailored.”

Waverly handed it to her. “Is there anything else you want me to try on?”

“Nope, we’ll all done for now. I have a meeting for another project. Nicole, I’ll email you the shots from this morning. I’ll think about pops of color I can add, but I think you’ll be happy with the basic ideas.”

“Thanks, Leigh. I’m sure I will.”

As she spoke, one of Leigh’s assistants came into the room looking frazzled. Nicole and Waverly broke off from them, and Nicole reached out and tugged on the bottom hem of her tank top.

“This all looks so good on you.”

“Thanks,” Waverly said, stepping closer. “Hey, are you busy right now? I don’t have to be at work for a few hours, maybe we could get coffee?”

“Yeah, sure. I bet you’ve got other good ideas about your character you’ve been hiding away.”

She waited for Waverly to change, fidgeting while she tried to not think about what she looked like behind that screen. They left their cars and walked until they found a Starbucks. It was right by a park, so they took their drinks across. The grass was lush, and leafy trees spread their branches overhead. A few parents with their kids were at the playground close by, but otherwise, they were alone.

Nicole sat cross-legged, sipping her dark roast, and looking at Waverly from the corner of her eye. She was pulling out blades of grass and twirling them around between her fingers. It was evident that Waverly had something on her mind, so she wasn’t surprised that when she finally spoke, her words rushed out.

“Hey. I was gonna say. It was nice talking to you last night. I’m sorry we got interrupted.”

By now, Nicole understood how wrong she was to be angry. Misdirected embarrassment, and all that. She hoped she hadn’t shown it too much.

“Well, I _did_ come into your place of work and start unloading on you. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

Waverly laughed. “Still. I wanted to talk. Champ doesn’t always notice when I’m in the middle of something.”

She was so curious about this guy. There wasn’t much to go on, except for their brief interaction and the way he’d pestered Waverly during their meeting. He came across as self-involved, so they seemed like an odd match.

“How long have you been together?”

“Seven years. High school sweethearts.”

“No way! That’s lovely,” she said. And it _was_ lovely, for other people anyway. She’d changed so much since being a teenager that she couldn’t imagine it herself.

“What about you? With Shae, I mean? Have you been together for long?”

“Three years.”

“How did you meet?”

Nicole hesitated. She didn’t want to portray herself as part of a happy couple when she wasn’t sure she believed that anymore. And talking about their problems with Waverly would be a betrayal, especially when she’d been comparing her to Shae the way she had.

“Just through friends, it’s not a very interesting story,” she said, smiling to disguise how strange she felt about it all.

“Cool.”

They each sipped on their drinks while Nicole looked at their legs stretched out in front of them. Waverly slipped off her ballet flats. Through her jeans, Nicole could trace the shape of her legs.

Why did she feel like this? She was so attracted to Waverly, a hard chemical pull she’d only experienced a couple of times in her life. When they were together, her whole body buzzed with it. She wanted to shift closer to her, but she made herself stay still.

She was going to have to be careful about more than the physical temptation. They hadn’t even started shooting yet, and they were going to be spending a lot of time together. The last thing she wanted was to be a cliché, falling for her lead.

This must be some kind of weird director/muse thing. Directors and their actors spent a lot of time together building something - it was like a hypercharged office romance. She tried to imagine what she’d think about Waverly if they met some other way, but she couldn’t see a scenario where she wouldn’t still want her.

“So, is everything okay with Benton?” Waverly asked.

Nicole sipped her coffee to buy time. There were no rules about how much she should tell her, but shouldn’t she be protecting Waverly from an asshole like Benton? There was no way she was going to do what he said, so she had to figure this out on her own.

“All good. I was making too much of it.”

There was a long silence. Panicking, Nicole tried to think of something to say to change the subject.

Waverly spoke first. “That’s good. Well…I might hit the road, I guess.”

She kneeled on the ground, brushing off the back of her jeans, her smile not reaching her eyes. The last thing Nicole had meant by dodging questions was to give off a cold vibe, but that must be how she’d come across.

“No, wait,” she said, putting a palm on her arm.

She froze. Waverly’s skin was soft, warm from the sun. She hated that she was the cause of the pain, just below the surface of that smile. The thought of hurting Waverly in any way made her stomach churn. Nicole drew her hand away and angled herself toward Waverly so they could look into one another’s eyes.

“There was something he said that bothered me. Did you ever have a discussion with anyone about nudity?”

Waverly’s eyebrows shot up. “Last thing I expected you to say. There was a love scene in the original script, and I asked, but they said it wasn’t required.”

“The producers told you that you weren’t expected to do any nudity?”

“Yeah. I’ve always thought I’d do it if it was really important, but it didn’t seem like it was, for this. What’s going on?”

Nicole shook her head. She’d heard too many stories to count, about actors getting tricked into doing nude scenes after being told they weren’t going to have to. She’d done the right thing, taking the plunge and talking about this.

“Benton called me yesterday afternoon wanting me to put a sex scene in the movie. When I refused, because it just wouldn’t fit, he said he wanted a shower scene or something.”

Waverly rolled her eyes. To Nicole’s surprise, she was smirking.

“What’s funny?”

“I have to laugh or I’ll cry. Honestly, you can see boobs anywhere nowadays, I don’t know why anyone would care about mine.”

Nicole laughed, so happy to relieve the tension. Now, Waverly stared off into the distance thoughtfully.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Is there anywhere in the script where Angel would have a shower?”

“We’re not doing that.”

“No, not to do what he wants. Just think about it. Is there anywhere it would make sense?”

Nicole shrugged, unsure where they were going with this, but she sifted through the script in her mind. “After she kills the first guy. Remember how she comes back to her apartment, covered in blood?”

“And she cries a little? But then gets all steely again? Yeah, I like that.”

“She could have that moment in the shower when she’s washing the blood off.”

“Ooooh, and I could look at my hands and stuff. There’s something so dramatic about seeing the blood and everything.”

“It’s so not what Benton has in mind. And I still don’t think I’m comfortable with having you half-naked. It’s completely unnecessary.”

“No, I know. But can’t you put it in the script the producers think they’re getting it, but on the day I’ll just wear pasties so you can’t really see anything, and they’ll be none the wiser? They won’t know until much later, and then they’ll be able to see how good the movie is, and nobody will care.”

Nicole grinned. “You’re right. They’re not going to waste money making me reshoot just for that. We’ll pretend we just didn’t get the right shots, and he can’t prove I’m bullshitting him.”

Waverly held up her hand, and they high-fived, their fingers threading for a moment. “Problem solved.”

“Sorry I was so reluctant to tell you. I should’ve known you’d be able to handle it. We’re a good team,” Nicole said softly.

“It’s all good. You’re so nice, wanting to look out for me like that.”

“Well, you don’t have to give me credit for doing the bare minimum, and not getting in bed with those sleazebags.”

Waverly was looking at her with a sweetness she didn’t know what to do with. Right now, she’d give anything to lie down on the grass with her, not even to kiss. Just to hold her.

She let out a nervous laugh, and then looked away, crushing her cup in a fist.

“Hey, I’m having my last shift tonight. We’re going to close early and have a little celebration. A few friends are coming down. Would you like to come?”

She didn’t give herself time to think about it. “Sure! Do you mind if I bring a plus-one?”

“Of course…is Shae coming back, or something?”

“No, my roommate Jason will be back in town. I haven’t seen him for a while. He’s a lot of fun. I think you’d like him.”

Waverly’s smile widened. “Sounds great. I look forward to meeting him.”

“I’m looking forward to it, too,” she said.

She lay on her back. Waverly was close to her, and she tried to forget how easy it would be to reach out and touch her.

She failed.


	6. Chapter 6

_INT. ANGEL’S HOUSE – NIGHT_

_Loud music plays while ANGEL works out, doing push-ups and lifting hand weights. She walks tiredly into the kitchen and goes to the fridge. She takes a picture of herself, LAURA, and TINA down. She stares at it, rubbing a thumb over her sister’s face. Energized, she returns to her workout, sweat dripping from her body._

As Waverly slid her apartment key home, butterflies beat their wings in her stomach. Spending time with Nicole was like a drug. It made her high, and the more she had that feeling, the more she wanted it. Before today she’d had no intention of inviting Nicole to her going away party, but she was so happy she’d done it. Any extra time with her was a gift.

Nicole was so goddamn _dreamy_. I mean, who wouldn’t be attracted to her? That face and the way she carried herself blew Waverly away from day one, but she couldn’t believe how perfect her whole personality was. The protectiveness was heart-meltingly sweet.

“Hey babe,” Champ said from the sofa, which he was splayed out on, wearing sweatpants with a Playstation controller in hand.

She dropped her purse by the door with a thud. It was like being doused with a bucket of cold water.

“What are you doing home? I thought you had that work as an extra today.”

“I overslept.”

“But I woke you up before I left?”

He mashed the buttons, not looking away from the screen. “I hate standing around all day like that. I got a late shift at the carwash, anyway.”

Sighing, she kicked off her shoes. There was no point reminding him that they could have used the money. They were still paying down his ridiculous car, but he didn’t care about the debt.

She showered then stood in front of her wardrobe in her underwear. It would be weird to get too dressed up for work, but she wanted Nicole to look at her like she did when she was in her Angel costume. She couldn’t stop thinking about Nicole’s eyes raking over her body and then looking her in the eye. There was a difference between appreciating and leering, and Nicole got it exactly right.

Champ passed down the hall to use the bathroom, then stopped in the doorway on the way back.

“Niiice,” he said, then came in and put his arms around her from behind. She let him kiss her cheek, but when he tried to turn her around, she pulled away.

He tried to lean toward her again. She put a hand on his chest. “I’m serious, I’ve got to get to work.”

“Whatever,” he muttered as he left. “You’re never in the mood anymore.”

Waverly drew breath to argue, but she wasn’t up for it right now. If she was honest, there was a grain of truth to it because she couldn’t remember the last time they’d had sex. She’d been trying not to think about what it meant that she didn’t even feel like kissing him.

She picked out a sheer white top and zipped up a high-waisted skirt. After she’d put on her make-up, she said a quick goodbye to Champ, pretending to not notice his sulking.

Her irritation dropped away as soon as she left the apartment. The thought of seeing Nicole made her stomach drop all over again, and she smiled as she crossed the street.

***

When Nicole strolled into her apartment, she was still singing the Aretha Franklin song from the car.

_No I ain’t never loved a man, the way that I, I love you…_

Her voice wasn’t great, but she liked to belt one out when she was in a good mood.

“I’m so flattered!”

Nicole jumped when Jason’s head popped out into the living room. His beard was thicker than it was since they’d seen one another last, his hair a little longer, too. In his white button-up shirt, he had what they’d always joked was his “sexy gay Jesus” vibe.

“Shit! I didn’t think you’d be home yet, it’s so nice to see you,” she said, walking into his arms.

“Where’s Shae?”

Nicole pulled away, face falling. Aside from the texts they’d exchanged when Shae let her know she got in safely, they hadn’t talked. Nicole should really call her.

“I forgot to tell you. She had to get back to work.”

“Bummer. But this means you’re free, so what are we doing to celebrate my homecoming?”

“I happen to have just the thing.”

A few hours later, they were walking in the balmy night air toward the bar. They’d spent the afternoon talking about a score for the movie. Jason floated some riffs he’d been playing around with, and they were promising.

Nicole had a spring in her step as they walked, excited about the night ahead. They’d had a couple of beers, and it felt so good to chill out and let off some steam after all the stress.

“Here we are.”

“I’m so intrigued to meet this leading lady, after hearing you talk about her all afternoon,” Jason said, trying to push the door open.

“It’s locked? They must’ve already closed.”

She reached over and knocked. The woman who opened the door was one of the other waitresses who worked here, Nicole recognized her from the night before. The black shirt she wore showed off sleeve tattoos.

“What’s the secret password?” she deadpanned.

“Friends of Waverly’s. Hey, I’m Nicole,” she said, sticking out her hand. “And this is Jason.”

“Shelly, and any friend of Waverly’s is a friend of mine, c’mon on in.”

There were only about ten people clustered around two tables, buzzing with conversation. One of the men in the group walked behind the bar and lined up a row of shot glasses. Someone must like old music like Nicole because _Be My Baby_ by the Ronettes blasted from the speakers.

They followed Shelly to the tables. Nicole had been framing shots in her head too much, she thought, because a movie moment happened when Shelly tapped Waverly on the back.

The world slipped into slow motion as she looked back over her shoulder.

She turned around slowly, and Nicole’s heart thumped.

The drumbeat surged into the chorus, Waverly making eye contact with her and grinning.

They walked toward one another and hugged hello. My god, her shampoo smelled delicious. And it was impossible to ignore how her breasts brushed against Nicole’s chest.

“I’m so glad you came!” Waverly said.

“I wouldn’t miss it. This is cool. It’s early, I thought the bar would still be open?” she said.

Waverly still had a hand on her hip, which made her wonder if she might be a little tipsy. She nodded toward the man walking back toward them with a tray of shots. He was tall and rail-thin, with a shock of black hair.

“That’s the boss, Heath. We were so quiet, there were only a couple of regulars here, so he let them stay and locked the doors,” she said, then dropped her voice to a whisper. “He’s rich. The bar is like a hobby for him.”

“I see. Oh, hey, this is Jason. Jason, this is Waverly.”

Nicole watched while they hugged hello, thinking they were destined to be instant friends.

“Thanks for letting me crash. I love your skirt,” he said.

“Aw, thanks! And no worries, it’s so nice to meet you. Vodka shots?”

They took one each, and Heath raised his glass to make a toast. They all said ‘cheers’ to Waverly’s career. Nicole glanced around, reassuring herself that Champ wasn’t here. Not that she minded, of course. It was just that seemed like he could be hard work, and she wanted to spend the night talking to Jason and Waverly instead of making awkward conversation with someone she didn’t know.

Nicole upended her shot glass, the vodka burning sweetly.

“Would either of you like a drink?” Waverly asked.

“I’d love a beer,” Nicole said, and Jason agreed.

“Coming right up. Don’t worry about paying, Heath’s throwing his money around like nobody’s business.”

“Best party ever!” Jason said. As soon as Waverly stepped away, he grabbed Nicole’s shoulder. “We need to talk.”

“What?”

“Are you two sleeping together?”

She looked around to make sure nobody was listening. Luckily, everyone was too involved in their own groups of two or three to pay attention. “Sssshh!”

“Well, are you?”

“Of course not. Shae? And she has a boyfriend.”

Jason pulled a face. “Huh. That’s a shocking development. The energy between you is nuts.”

“It’s not like that.”

He was smirking at her. “Bullshit. Do you realize you’re still staring at her, even while we’re talking?”

“Fuck off,” she said good-naturedly, and then Waverly was back, handing them each a frosted bottle. She had a glass of wine for herself.

Shelly was to Jason’s right, and they struck up a conversation. Nicole took a pull on her bottle. It wasn’t like her, but she felt tongue-tied, unable to think of anything to say. Two people were pointing out a spark between her and Waverly, and one of those people was her girlfriend. It made her feel exposed.

“Your roommate seems super nice. How do you know him?” Waverly asked.

Good. An easy subject. “I found him online, and I really lucked out. He’s kind of perfect. He’s not home a lot, but we always have fun when he is.”

“That’s awesome. Why isn’t he home much?”

“He’s a musician. He does session work and tours with different bands. Plus he does the long-distance thing, too. He’s got a boyfriend in San Francisco, and stays with him sometimes.”

“Sounds like he lives an interesting life.”

“For sure. I can’t get over how generous your boss is, doing all this,” Nicole said, nodding toward him.

Heath was pushing a table across to the wall and directing people to help him. Waverly laughed. “He is. We’ve had parties like this every few months since I started here.”

“What’s he doing with those tables?”

“He’s moving them to make a dance floor. These parties get pretty wild.”

“Oooh, I like wild. Are you much of a dancer?”

“Sure. I did some dancing in high school. I was a cheerleader, actually.”

“A cheerleader, really?”

“Yes, really. I had some moves.”

“I bet you did.”

They were straight-up flirting now, leaning into one another’s space. Waverly’s gaze kept flicking between her eyes and lips, and it was doing all kinds of things to her.

“What about you?”

“I wasn’t a cheerleader, no.”

Waverly gave her a light shove on the shoulder. “Not that. Do you like dancing?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes. I’m probably more comfortable with slow dancing. Give me a good waltz any day.”

“Then, I’ll save you a dance later.”

“I might take you up on that.”

Waverly’s eyes burned into her for a minute. Nicole wet her lips. They were both on their way to getting drunk, and she didn’t trust herself. Thankfully, before she could say anything else she shouldn’t, Jason broke in. She hoped he hadn’t been listening for long.

“So Waverly, Nicole says you’re a very talented actor. Did you go to drama school?”

Pink crept up her neck, and she looked between Jason and Nicole. “Thank you. I’ve done a lot of classes, but no, I didn’t go to drama school.”

“Just raw, natural talent, huh?” Jason said, but Nicole didn’t get to hear the rest. Shelly leaned over and asked her how long she’d been living in L.A.

It was hard to remember the last time she’d had this much fun. The free booze kept flowing, the music was golden, everyone was in a good mood, and Shelly was fascinating and witty. They talked about their favorite movies, and Shelly explained the origin and meaning of each of her many tattoos.

As they spoke, Nicole’s gaze was drawn to Waverly like a magnet. She lost count of the number of times she looked at Waverly and found her looking right back.

A Marvin Gaye song with a good beat came on, and Jason grabbed Waverly’s hand and pulled her out to the dance floor. More people had arrived after they got here, and there were fifteen people or so out there.

Waverly wasn’t kidding; she had moves alright. She wasn’t doing anything too showy, just having a good time, and it was sexy as hell.

Shelly had just gone behind the bar to get them another round when Nicole realized her phone was ringing in her back pocket.

“Shit,” she said, when she saw Shae on the caller ID. She still hadn’t called her. She considered just calling her back tomorrow, but they were already on thin ice, so she picked up. She stuck her finger in an ear. “Hey, honey. Just a sec, I’m going outside.”

The front door was locked, so she headed for the back, where people had been popping out to smoke their cigarettes.

“Sorry about that.”

“That’s okay. Where are you? It sounds loud?”

“Oh yeah, I’m at _The Aviary._ ”

It only took a moment for the penny to drop. “Where Waverly works? What are you doing there?”

“I’m with Jason. He got home today. Waverly’s having a going away thing.”

“Oh, I see.”

Nicole decided to pretend she didn’t notice the tone. “How’s work? I’ve been wondering how your big surgery went.”

“Look, just call me tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to ruin your fun.”

Nicole winced at how sharply she said it. The last thing she wanted was to start another argument when she was drunk. She took a deep breath.

“You’re not ruining anything, but I’ll call you first thing tomorrow. Okay?”

Shae hung up without another word, and Nicole looked at the phone in her hand, disbelieving. Things were going from bad to worse. She paced around the small courtyard, thinking that maybe she should go home, sober up, and call her.

Her stubborn streak won out. She’d been having such a good time, and she hadn’t done anything wrong.

As she was walking back inside, the track changed to a song she didn’t know. Like most of the music tonight it was a soul song.

And, it was slow. She looked at Waverly. She’d stepped away from Jason – who was in Heath’s arms now - and was staring at her. She was raising her eyebrows, questioning.

Nicole’s heart caught in her throat. If she slow danced with Waverly, could she still tell herself that she wasn’t doing anything wrong?

She broke eye contact and went to her seat, then made out she was rechecking her phone. It was all ambiguous. Easy to act like she didn’t understand what Waverly was asking her. But when she looked up, Waverly was headed for the bar, and the embarrassment on her face was so evident she felt terrible. She didn’t deserve that.

Nicole went to her without another thought. She stood in front of the bar and extended her hand.

“May I have this dance?”

Waverly put down the wine bottle she’d been holding and nodded, then came back around the bar to follow her out to the floor.

It all happened without a word. Waverly put a hand on her shoulder, Nicole lay a hand on her hip, and they clasped their free hands together.

At first, there was space between them. They swayed back and forth a little stiffly. Waverly’s hair smelled so lovely, and she swallowed thickly, wondering what she’d gotten herself into here.

She didn’t regret it, though. Not one bit. She gave Waverly a half-smile, and she smiled back at up her, her eyes a little wide.

The song changed again, and it was Prince this time, another slow one.

She wasn’t sure who stepped forward first, but soon Waverly was pressed right against her, arms slipping up around her neck. Nicole put one palm flat on her back, the other lightly grasping her waist.

No other woman had ever fit so perfectly in her arms. They almost stopped moving altogether, and Nicole wondered if Waverly could feel her heart racing like a train.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight, losing herself. She was so turned on; it was hard to believe they were only dancing.

They held one another close now, the hand on Waverly’s hip tightening. She drew deep breaths, taking in Waverly’s perfume and the apple scent of her shampoo. She might never get to hold her again. The thought seemed ridiculous. How could they not do this again?

If they were alone, she might have lost her mind kissed her by now.

She brushed a hand over Waverly’s back, and though the music was loud, she thought she might have heard a sigh.

The song faded out and an up-tempo one started. There was no choice but to move away, which she did very slowly.

They stared at one another. She’d give anything to know what Waverly was thinking.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when Heath danced his way up and started grinding on Waverly. For what felt like a long time, Waverly stood as though frozen, still gazing back at Nicole.

Finally, she giggled and turned to him.

Nicole danced around a little bit, just to blend in, but then went to find the bathroom.

She splashed water on her face and then met her own eyes in the mirror. It was ridiculous how aroused she was right now.

What the hell was she going to do about it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys. I keep saying it, but it bears repeating, thank you so much for your comments. I get such a big smile on my face when I read them. I am so grateful to anyone who is invested in this x


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